The No. 3 seeded Long Beach State men’s volleyball team looks for its first win against No. 2 UCLA this season when they face off in the semifinal round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Thursday in Provo, Utah.
The 49ers have fallen to UCLA in both matches this season, suffering their only straight set loss of the year to the Bruins on March 26 inside the Walter Pyramid. In the last meeting between the two teams, the Bruins held the 49ers to .250 hitting percentage.
“We feel like there are some things we’ve left on the table the last couple of times we played them,” LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said.
Knipe called UCLA a consistent team that has played well all year long and that the 49ers need to play a stronger and more consistent round of volleyball for a longer period of time to advance to the championship game.
The Bruins defeated the seventh seeded Hawaii in the quarterfinal match 3-1 at Pauley Pavilion to earn the trip to Utah for the semifinals. This is the first trip for UCLA to the semifinals since 2012, where they ultimately lost to BYU.
Over the length of the season, UCLA setters Micah Ma’a and Hagen Smith led the Bruin offense to a .311 hitting percentage. Smith averages 5.87 assists per set while Ma’a averages 5.99, totalling 56 service aces with at least one ace in the last 12 of 13 matches played.
Freshman setter Josh Tuaniga said that UCLA runs a great tempo when on offense and that it is a challenge on defense to match up with how well they play.
“[We need to] stay mentally into the game,” Tuaniga said. “[And] know that we can do some pretty good things as well and we just have to use our weapons.”
Tuaniga tops the MPSF in assists per set with 11.13 and has directed the 49er offense to fourth in the country with a .329 hitting percentage.
Freshman outside hitter T.J. DeFalco has been the kill leader for the 49ers, totaling 426 kills and averaging 4.28 kills per set. DeFalco, who earned MPSF freshman of the year last week, said that although UCLA is a strong team it is always fun getting to play against the Bruins.
“I’m excited to play them, I’m always excited to play them,” DeFalco said. “We’re on the smaller end of the height chart in the teams so we just need to play more defense.”
Heading into the final four for the tournament, Knipe said that one of the themes at practice this season is to stay focused on their side of the court rather than their opponents.
“This team does a really good job of not just physically preparing for a match but preparing for a match as far as their volleyball IQ,” Knipe said. “They do a really good job of coming in eager to get after it and learn the game plan.”
The 49ers will matchup against UCLA for the third time this season in the MPSF semifinal match Thursday at 4 p.m.